RFL Rules

Background

The Realistic Football League™ fantasy football rules are different from all other conventional fantasy football leagues.

After fantasy football came into the public eye, a group of friends and hardcore football fans desired to try it out. After checking out the existing systems, they were not pleased with the way conventional Fantasy Football was designed.

It didn't resemble actual football at all, but was something created for math-geeks, computer nerds and statisticians. Total scores were much too high, and giving points for yardage seemed like a bastardization of the game (Like awarding points in basketball, simply for dribbling). There was no focus on the goal of real football, which is to cross the goal line or accept the loss and go home.

The goal of the RFL was to create a game that produced realistic scores and used individual defensive players. While the general rules for managing a fantasy football league were fairly easy and straightforward, careful planning and thought went into developing the unique scoring system. By analyzing the statistics from prior seasons and hundreds of previous NFL game results, the Commissioner was able to achieve this goal.

Offensive scoring was simple, with the main focus on Touchdowns. The only problem was at Quarterback, with the desire not to equally reward a player who; matched another in Touchdowns, but had a worse performance with more Interceptions. It was determined to subtract 3 points for each interception, because analysis showed that Touchdowns score 6 points 100% of the time, but Interceptions only resulted in the opponent scoring approximately 50% of the time. While this could result in an RFL team scoring less than zero points, we knew it would be a rare occurrence.

After deciding upon the Offensive scoring, it would clearly mirror NFL game scores (Which are much lower than typical fantasy scores). However, the RFL owners wanted to draft and include individual Defensive players (just like real football). Analysis showed that even with the addition of the Defensive scoring, game scores consistently averaged 42-28. While that was more of a college football score, it was still regarded as an acceptable football score.

Punters were added, for realism and to ensure that there would be no tie games. For further realism, a Kick Returner ("KR") position was added to the lineup. The KR could be any Wide Receiver, Tight End, Running Back, or Defensive Back. This was to reflect that NFL teams build upon different schemes. The KR position would allow the owner to utilize the strength of their roster in the same manner.

To allow for a 'fun factor', the players voted on a decision to give double points for certain long-yardage scoring plays. Although the hardcore players balked, the rule passed the vote and has not disrupted the game. (However, RFL Hard-Core leagues do not use this rule)

With that, the RFL Fantasy Football system was born.

Today, the RFL has proven just how perfect that system would be. Despite any NFL rule changes and subsequent coaching adjustments, the RFL has consistently maintained its average scores. Some years Running Backs are king, some years it's Kickers—but the RFL scoring system never needs adjustment.

Unofficial Leagues

Although others have adapted and/or altered the RFL rules, only leagues that adhere to all of the official RFL Rules are recognized as Official RFL Leagues. Unofficial leagues will not be displayed on this site.